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Newland 

The  Zinc-Pyrite  Deposits  of 

the  Edwards  District, 

New  lork 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


GIFT  OF 

Professor 
Clemens  A.  Nelson 


1KJ 


LOS.' 


New  York  State  Defense  Council 


BULLETIN  No.  2 


THE  ZINC-PYRITE  DEPOSITS  OF  THE  EDWARDS 
DISTRICT,  NEW  YORK 

By  DAVID  H.  NEWLAND 


(PRINTED  BY  ORDER  OF  THE  COUNCIL) 
November,  1917 


ALBANY 

J.  B.  LYON  COMPANY,  PRINTERS 
1917 


MEMBERS  OF  COUNCIL 


GOVERNOR  CHARLES  S.  WHITMAN,  Chairman 

GENERAL  W.  W.  WOTHERSPOON,  Vice- Chairman 

FRANK  M.  WILLIAMS 

CHARLES  S.  WILSON 

ADJUTANT  GENERAL  CHARLES  H.  SHERRILL 

WILLIAM  A.  ORR,  Secretary 

JOSEPH  H.  WILSON,  Auditor 


New  York  State  Defense  Council 


BULLETIN  No.  2 


THE  ZINC-PYRITE  DEPOSITS  OF  THE  EDWARDS 
DISTRICT,  NEW  YORK 

By  DAVID  H.  NEWLAND 


(PRINTED  BY  ORDER  OF  THE  COUNCIL) 
November,  1917 


ALBANY 

J.  B.  LYON  COMPANY,  PRINTERS 
1917 


Geology 
Library 

TH 


HON.  CHARLES  S.  WHITMAN,  Chairman, 
State  Defense  Council 

Albany,  New  York. 

SIR: — The  immediate  requirements  of  our  industries  for  pyrite 
supplies  have  led  to  additional  surveys  of  the  recently  opened  zinc 
field  in  the  Edwards  District  of  St.  Lawrence  County  where  these 
two  important  minerals,  zinc  and  pyrite,  occur  in  association  and, 
as  this  report  indicates,  both  in  quantity  adequate  to  greatly  increase 
development. 

The  accompanying  report  on  these  mineral  supplies  is  therefore 
submitted  as  appropriate  to  the  work  of  the  State  Defense  Council. 
VERY  RESPECTFULLY  SUBMITTED 

JOHN  M.  CLARKE 

State  Geologist 
Chairman  of  Geology, 
National  Research  Council 


937457 


THE  ZINC-PYRITE  DEPOSITS  OF  THE  EDWARDS 
DISTRICT,  NEW  YORK 

By  David  H.  Newland 


INTRODUCTION 

The  information  hitherto  available  concerning  the  Edwards  zinc 
deposits  has  been  rather  meager,  hardly  commensurate  with  their 
standing  from  a  commercial  viewpoint  or  with  their  interest  from 
the  geological  side. 

Mather  1  made  cursory  note  of  the  occurrence  of  sphalerite  in 
the  Edwards  district  as  far  back  as  1838,  but  the  deposit  to  which 
he  refers  had  been  opened  for  lead  rather  than  zinc,  which  at  that 
time  found  little  employment.  No  mention  was  made  of  any  other 
occurrence  in  the  district. 

In  1906  Xewland2  published  notes  on  the  deposits  near  the  vil- 
lage of  Edwards  which  shortly  before  had  come  under  prospect 
and  development,  and  also  gave  some  account  of  the  abandoned 
workings  near  Sylvia  Lake.  A  more  extended  description  by  the 
same  writer  3  appeared  in  the  "  Engineering  &  Mining  Journal " 
of  that  year. 

In  1913  McDonald  4  briefly  described  the  Edwards  mines  then 
developed  to  a  point  which  warranted  the  inauguration  of  active 
production.  Operations  were  delayed  for  two  years,  howrever,  by 
the  problems  encountered  in  the  milling  of  the  ores,  complicated 
perhaps  by  the  policy  pursued  by  the  company  of  saving  the  pyrite 
as  well  as  the  blende. 

The  geology  of  the  ores  was  discussed  for  the  first  time  in  a  con- 
tribution by  Newland  5  to  "  Economic  Geology,"  wherein  also  was 
given  some  account  of  the  physical  and  chemical  characteristics  of 


1  Geology  of  New  York :  Report  on  Second  District,  Assembly  Doc.  1838, 
No.  200,  p.  213. 

2  The  Mining  and  Quarry  Industry  of  New  York  state.     N.  Y.  State  Mus. 
Bull.  102,  1906,  pp.  I57-I59- 

3  Engineering  and  Mining  Journal,  Vol.  81,  p.   1094-5,   1906. 
*  Idem  Vol.  95,  p.  363,  1913. 

•"'  Econom'c  Geology,  Vol.  XI,  No.  7,  Oct-Nov.  1916. 


the  ores  and  their  probable  origin.  The  bodies  were  recognized  as 
replacements  of  the  Precambrian  limestones  in  which  they  occur 
and  as  having  been  formed  at  considerable  depths  following  the 
metamorphic  process  which  led  to  the  silication  of  the  limestones. 

The  present  contribution  deals  more  particularly  with  the  geology 
and  economic  development  of  the  deposits.  In  the  study  of  the 
origin  of  the  ores  —  which  is  no  less  of  interest  and  importance  in 
view  of  the  rather  unusual  conditions  of  their  occurrence  —  the 
cooperation  of  C.  H.  Smyth,  Jr.,  had  been  enlisted  and  a  separate 
chapter  had  been  nearly  completed  by  him  for  inclusion  with  the 
report.  It  is  regretted  that  owing  to  the  exigencies  of  time  and  space 
the  publication  of  this  part  must  be  postponed  to  a  later  date. 

In  the  study  of  the  general  geology  of  the  district  the  assistance 
of  Dr.  Gushing,  who  for  the  last  uwo  seasons  has  been  engaged  in 
the  mapping  of  the  Gouverneur  sheet  in  which  Edwards  lies,  has 
been  of  material  advantage.  It  is  unfortunate  that  the  areal  map 
can  not  be  referred  to  in  connection  with  the  descriptions ;  although 
nearly  completed,  so  far  as  field  work  is  concerned,  its  publication 
can  hardly  be  expected  before  another  year  or  two. 

Acknowledgment  is  due  to  many  of  those  interested  in  the  min- 
ing industry  of  northern  New  York  for  information  and  other  aid 
rendered  in  the  work.  To  T.  M.  Williams  and  J.  H.  McLear  the 
debt  is  particularly  important.  In  visits  to  the  mines  of  the 
Northern  Ore  Company,  many  courtesies  have  been  extended  by 
the  former  and  present  members  of  the  company's  staff,  including 
A.  J.  Moore,  Justice  Grugan,  Cecil  Pocock,  G.  S.  Patterson  and 
W.  D.  Blackmer. 

HISTORICAL 

The  first  shipments  of  zinc  ore  and  pyrite  from  Edwards  in  a 
commercial  way  were  made  in  the  spring  of  1915,  with  the  begin- 
ning of  regular  mining  operations  by  the  Northern  Ore  Company 
on  its  property  just  outside  of  Edwards  village.  The  record  of  the 
discovery  and  development  of  the  deposits,  however,  covers  a  con- 
siderable period  anterior  to  that  date. 

The  earliest  mention  of  zinc  in  connection  with  the  Sylvia  Lake- 
Edwards  limestone  belt  that  the  writer  has  been  able  to  find  is  con- 
tained in  one  of  the  preliminary  reports  of  Ebenezer  Emmons  1 
relative  to  the  progress  of  his  survey  of  the  Second  District  of  New 

1  Geology  of  New  York :  Report  on  Second  District,  Assembly  Doc.  1838, 
No.  200,  p.  213. 


York.    He  refers  to  the  occurrence  of  zinc  and  lead  on  the  Balmat 
property  in  the  following  words : 

"  In  the  town  of  Fowler,  a  remarkable  vein  of  the  sulphurets  of 
zinc,  lead  and  iron,  in  about  equal  proportions,  occur  on  the  farm 
of  Mr.  Belmont.2  The  direction  of  the  vein  is  n.  n.  e.  and  s.  s.  w. 
and  the  width  about  eight  inches,  but  not  well  defined.  These  sul- 
phurets traverse  a  bed  of  serpentine  40  to  50  feet  wide.  The  occur- 
rence of  zinc  intermixed  with  lead,  is  not  favorable  to  the  reduction 
of  the  latter." 

In  a  further  paragraph  of  the  same  report  Emmons  expresses  the 
opinion  that  mining  on  the  Balmat  vein  will  not  prove  profitable. 
It  is  apparent  from  the  wording  that  the  deposit  had  already 
engaged  attention  from  prospectors,  and  no  doubt  some  of  the 
development  work  evidenced  by  the  shaft  and  tunnel  openings  that 
exist  at  present  traces  back  to  this  early  period.  The  purpose  of 
the  operations  evidently  was  to  prospect  for  lead,  rather  than  zinc 
which  at  that  time  would  hardly  have  been  considered  an  element 
of  value  in  the  ore.  It  is  likely  that  other  deposits  in  the  district 
wrere  uncovered  at  about  the  same  time. 

The  Streeter  property  which  adjoins  the  Balmat  on  the  north, 
across  the  road,  contains  prospects  and  dumps  situated  along  a  band 
of  ore  that  bear  evidence  of  having  been  made  years  ago  and  some 
of  them  may  be  contemporary  with  the  early  operations  already 
noted.  There  are  no  further  records  relating  to  the  district,  how- 
ever, for  the  interval  of  about  75  years  preceding  the  present 
developments. 

In  1903  T.  M.  Williams  who  was  then  engaged  in  mining  work 
near  Gouverneur  had  his  attention  called  to  the  uncovering  of  zinc 
ore  on  the  Todd  farm,  a  part  of  the  properties  now  under  opera- 
tion. It  appears  that  the  limestone  ridge  in  which  the  ore  occurs 
had  been  cut  into  for  the  purpose  of  quarrying  road  material  and 
the  edge  of  the  ore  zone  thus  exposed.  Mr.  Williams  visited  the 
place  and  recognized  the  possible  importance  of  the  discovery.  The 
property,  as  well  as  the  adjoining  Brown  tract  was  taken  over, 
under  lease  or  purchase,  by  Mr.  Williams  in  association  with  the 
Northern  Ore  Company  who  then  began  systematic  prospect- 
ing work  which  continued  for  a  year  or  more.  In  1905  operations 
were  suspended  on  account  of  legal  entanglements  and  were  not 
again  resumed  until  some  five  years  later.  A  period  of  experiment 


The  name  is  properly  spelled  Balmat. 


